Moku‘ula is the site of the private residential complex of King Kamehameha III from 1837 to 1845, when Lāhainā, Mauiwas the capital of the kingdom of the Hawaiian Islands. The site is a traditional home for Maui royalty, noted as being the site of King Pi‘ilani’s residence in the sixteenth century.

Almost the entire site, which consisted of fishponds, fresh water springs, islands, causeways, retaining walls, beach berms, residential and mortuary buildings, was buried under a couple feet of coral and soil fill in 1914. Under a County Park for over a century, archaeological subsurface excavations have ascertained that portions, if not most, of the encompassing retaining wall of Moku’ula is still intact beneath about 3-feet of soil and coral fill.